This article possibly contains
original research. (September 2019) |
E | |
---|---|
Ei, Wuse | |
Kjang E | |
Region | Guangxi, China |
Native speakers | 5,000 (2016) [1] |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
eee |
Glottolog |
eeee1240 |
Guangxi, of which E is spoken in a small area | |
Wuse is classified as Vulnerable by the
UNESCO
Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |
E (IPA: [ɛ55]), Ei or Wuse/Wusehua ( simplified Chinese: 五色话; traditional Chinese: 五色話; pinyin: Wǔsèhuà; lit. 'Colored Language') is a Tai– Chinese mixed language spoken primarily in Rongshui Miao Autonomous County, Guangxi, China. It contains features of both Tai and Chinese varieties, generally adopting Chinese vocabulary into Tai grammar. E is a tonal language—distinguishing between seven tones—and contains a few rare phonemes: voiceless versions of the more common nasal consonants and alveolar lateral approximant.
The E language's unusual name, which is also an autonym, derives from the pinyin transliteration of the rare Mandarin syllable 诶; 誒; ê (IPA: [ɛ55]), which conventionally denotes an expression of affirmation (and is distinguished from the usual pronunciation of e by the use of a circumflex). [2] [3] The language's speakers also refer to their language as Kjang E [kiaŋ55 ɛ55]. [2] Wusehua is a derogatory name for E. [4]
In 1992, E was spoken by about 30,000 people, [5] [2] but by 2008 this number had dwindled to 9,000. [6] Gao (2016) reported that there were 5,000 speakers of E. [1] Most E speakers are classified as Zhuang by the Chinese government. E speakers live in Rongshui Miao Autonomous County and border areas of Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County in Guangxi. In Rongshui County, the three main villages inhabited by E speakers are Xiatan 下覃村, Simo 四莫村, and Xinglong 兴隆村 in Yongle Township 永乐乡. [1] E speakers' most commonly spoken other languages are the Liujia dialect (六甲话) of Yue Chinese and the Guiliu variant of Southwestern Mandarin. [1]
E's consonant and vowel inventories are mostly similar to those of its parent languages. However, it contains a few unusual consonants: the voiceless nasal consonants [ n̥], [ ŋ̥], [ m̥], and the voiceless alveolar lateral approximant [ l̥]. All are voiceless versions of consonants that, in most languages, are always voiced. E allows syllabic consonants and diphthongs. [6]
Labial |
Dental/ Alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | sibilant | plain | labialized | |||||
Nasal | voiced | m | n | ŋ | ||||
voiceless | m̥ | n̥ | ŋ̥ | |||||
Plosive | unaspirated | p | t | t͡s | k | kʷ | ||
aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | t͡sʰ | kʰ | ||||
Fricative | f | s | ɕ | h | ||||
Approximant | voiced | l | j | w | ||||
voiceless | l̥ |
Front | Central | Back | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Close | i | y | u | |
Mid | e | ə | o | |
Open | ɛ | a |
Like most Southeast Asian languages, including Tai and the varieties of Chinese, E is tonal. [7] The language is described as having seven tones, with the seventh varying allophonically with the length of the vowel it is attached to. With numbers ranging from 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest tone and 5 the highest, the contours of the various tones in E are as follows. [6]
Number | Contour | Tone letter | |
---|---|---|---|
1. | 42 | ˦˨ | |
2. | 231 | ˨˧˩ | |
3. | 44 | ˦ | |
4. | 35 | ˧˥ | |
5. | 24 | ˨˦ | |
6. | 55 | ˥ | |
7. | short | 24 | ˨˦ |
long | 22 | ˨ |
E is usually classified as a mixed language deriving ultimately from the Tai-Kadai and Sino-Tibetan families, which both inhabit southern China and Southeast Asia. [4] Some non-Chinese scholars, however, consider it a Tai-Kadai language with Chinese influence. [8] Whatever its classification, the grammar resembles that of the Tai branch of Tai-Kadai. E's grammatical features appear to be a mix of Northern Zhuang, Mulam, and Kam. [1] [7] The Caolan language of Vietnam also displays many similarities with E. [7]
The vocabulary, however, is mostly Chinese, based on Guiliu and the Tuguai variant of Pinghua. [1] [7] Out of the 2,000 most commonly used E words, only about 200 are of Tai-Kadai origin. [9] E also inherits elements of these Chinese dialects' phonology and compound word formation. [1] E morphology is primarily analytic, with concepts such as negation expressed with auxiliary words (pat6, m2) and no pronominal agreement. [6]
In its pronouns, E distinguishes for person between first, second, and third; in number between singular and plural; and, in the case of the first-person plural, between inclusive and exclusive we. E does not, however, make distinctions for grammatical gender. [6]
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